Opinions

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OPINIONS 9/16/24 12:45pm

OPINION: Rediscovering Elon after studying abroad

By Halli Harwood

Hands down, studying abroad was the best experience of my entire life. I never knew I had the capacity to appreciate and miss the experience as much as I do. I had five months of absolute autonomy and a long list of life lessons that made my time in Australia freeing and full of growth. Elon is known for their study abroad programs and roughly 88% of students go abroad in some capacity before graduating. Yet, I had never heard other people discuss the challenges they faced when they returned.

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OPINIONS 5/11/24 6:53pm

OPINION: Looking for God at Burlington's Biker Church

By Alex Nettles

After class, I found myself driving to a McDonalds on Interstate 87 to meet with Tony — a former member of an outlaw biker club. Tony said he met God when he was in a coma, and there was a point in the afterlife where he had to choose between heaven and hell. In his vision, God asked him, “Do you want heaven and me, or do you want hell?.” I first met Tony at Broken Chains Biker Church, a church devoted to worship that aims to save bikers from the sinful life.

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OPINIONS 4/27/24 5:45pm

OPINION: Elon University alienates itself from the South

By Alex Nettles

You rarely hear a southern accent around the Moseley Student Center or Alamance Building. If a drawl echoes, it’s usually a campus employee. Each time there is an accent, I think of growing up in the South and feel that mix of dread and nostalgia. Time in the South gets you acquainted with those two feelings. The South is both a good memory and a bad one. Once I heard a friend say, “I know about the South, I go to Elon.” As a South Carolinian, that phrase struck me as a little strange. I crunched some numbers.

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OPINIONS 4/27/24 5:44pm

OPINION: We close our eyes

By Syd Danziger

I am looking. I am looking for liberated people. I look and look and I find no one. It is Passover. Pesach. A holiday formed to commemorate liberation from oppression. It is with a scarred and sad and heavy, no, leaden heart, that I watch people who are MY people commit massacre upon massacre unchecked and then JUSTIFY it. All during the holiday of Pesach. A time to acknowledge those who are not yet free. And a time to free them. At my home Passover Seder, we used to remind ourselves that no one is free until we all are.

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OPINIONS 4/18/24 12:21pm

OPINION: Elon’s Mobile Order system isn’t great — here’s how

By Tucker Price

When a student orders food on Elon Dining’s mobile app from any of the nine on-campus vendors, they might notice a number indicating how long it would take for it to be ready. These can range from four minutes to over 250 minutes.  “The only thing is the time doesn’t really match up,” freshman Josie Schultz said. “Sometimes it says 36 minutes, when it’s actually 12.”  Near the mobile order pickup at Village Juice, sophomore Delaney Dickinson picked up her order. 

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OPINIONS 3/17/24 1:49pm

OPINION: Elon University's silent streets: Closer look at lack of public activism

By Alex Nettles

On a small corner of green in Young Commons lies the Speakers’ Corner. All public demonstrations are supposed to be concentrated here. Events can be planned and registered to the university, but it rarely happens. The corner is virtually always empty. The campus is too. In 2024, we face an election and global upheaval. There has been the occasional protest, but they are not part of the daily rhythm of the university. Elon’s administration has fostered debate, but you don’t see overwhelming input from the students.

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OPINIONS 3/2/24 3:52pm

OPINION: Victims of imagination: how does tech use affect loneliness at Elon?

By Alex Nettles

Gen Z is the loneliest generation to ever attend college. In 2023, A Cigna report found that Gen Z was “far lonelier” than older generations, in Cigna’s most recent loneliness index, 79% of young adults feel lonely. For many of us, this is not surprising at all. One explanation is that we are the generation with the most media at our fingertips. According to dcdx, a Gen Z advocacy organization, our average daily screen time is seven hours and seven minutes. We spend well over one-third of our waking hours on our phones.

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OPINIONS 4/21/23 12:26pm

OPINION: Future educators have a disproportionate burden to bear

By Alex Nettles

Editor's Note: The content of this editorial includes discussion of gun violence in schools. The national climate has rendered mass shootings an inescapable reality. These situations illustrate the horror of gun violence that educators face today. Teachers are shouldering some of the biggest problems in the country — from the COVID-19 pandemic creating an educational rift to gun violence increasing in classrooms. 

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OPINIONS 4/12/23 8:00am

OPINION: The war for insulin affordability isn't over yet

By Erin Sockolof

I was distributing newspapers on the morning of March 1, 2023, when my earbuds suddenly paused my Taylor Swift playlist to bombard me with a breaking news alert: Eli Lilly, one of the biggest insulin producers in the world, had decided to cap their out-of-pocket prices at $35 a month. I was standing in the middle of Global Commons, holding dozens of papers, when I broke down in tears at the sight of my phone. At that moment, an NBC news alert changed the trajectory of my life and informed me I could now afford to pursue my dreams. 

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OPINIONS 3/15/23 2:05pm

SAMUELS: I won’t be playing Hogwarts Legacy

By Lucy Samuels

It felt like the internet was constantly reminding me of the existence of Hogwarts Legacy for the length of 2022, trying to sweep me up into the hype for the game. On Feb. 10, Portkey Games released the long anticipated Hogwarts Legacy to gamers and “Harry Potter” fans all across the world. Despite being such an influential intellectual property, The Wizarding World is no world I want a part of, especially not for $70. 

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OPINIONS 2/6/23 9:22am

OPINION: Affirmative action is much-needed policy

By Taryn Vandiver

The college application and admissions procedures are stressful for almost every high school upperclassman; introducing anxieties over the many different necessities that go into the decision-making process. This struggle is often amplified for students of color; whilst most students struggle with primarily school-related issues such as grades and making the most of their college essays, many students of color must account for the possible discrimination they may encounter in the process based on their names or even their socioeconomic status.

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OPINIONS 8/18/22 2:10pm

Letters from the leaders: Black Student Union President Christina Carr

By Christina Carr

Senior Christina Carr is the president of the Black Student Union, the central governing body and root organization for Black students on campus. Courtesy of Christina Carr. 

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OPINIONS 8/18/22 2:10pm

Letters from the leaders: Student Body President Nadine Jose

By Nadine Jose

Elon senior and Student Government Association Executive President Nadine Jose welcomes the class of 2026 to the university ahead of move-in Aug. 19.  

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OPINIONS 7/13/22 2:38pm

Elon Watches: Obi-Wan Kenobi

By Tucker Price

The show follows Obi-Wan Kenobi, played by Ewan McGregor, as he eludes the Empire after the events of the prequel trilogy. Princess Leia, played by Vivien Lyra Blair, is kidnapped, and Kenobi must come out of hiding to rescue her and bring her back to Alderaan. All the while, Kenobi is hunted by the Second Sister, played by Moses Ingram, and Darth Vader, played by Hayden Christensen.

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OPINIONS 6/20/22 11:03am

ELON WATCHES: “Jurassic World: Dominion”

By Tucker Price

Universal has put a slew of writers and directors up to the task of adapting Micheal Crichton’s excellent sci-fi novel, and out of the six films they have made, only two of them have been successful at catching lightning in a bottle. 

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OPINIONS 6/8/22 4:43pm

ELON WATCHES: “Crimes of the Future”

By Tucker Price

Elon Watches is a column that reviews films and TV shows

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OPINIONS 6/6/22 1:27pm

2022 summer reading guide

By Kyra O'Connor

From reading on vacation to a few pages before bed, the summer can be the perfect time to dive into a new book. Whether you’re rolling out a towel on the beach or in your backyard, Elon News Network has five books to add to your “to-be-read” pile this summer.

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OPINIONS 5/28/22 3:36pm

ELON WATCHES: “Everything Everywhere All At Once” is explosively existential

By Ben Nguyen O'Connor

“Everything Everywhere All At Once” is a brilliant family drama that uses kung fu, campy aesthetics and farce to tell an all-encompassing story of existential shock. 

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OPINIONS 5/20/22 8:05am

Letters from ENN's graduating seniors: Caitlin Rundle

By Caitlin Rundle

I came to this campus four years ago, wide-eyed and excited for the potential of the next four years. Ironically I thought that I was one of few who came from a small, Northern area near a big city, but obviously I was to learn very quickly that that wasn’t special to me.

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OPINIONS 5/20/22 8:05am

Letters from ENN's graduating seniors: Baylor Rodman

By Baylor Rodman

Four years ago, when I set my sights on colleges, I sought-out a place that contained three main pillars— community, tradition, and opportunity. Just walking across this campus, those markers shine bright. Walking around constantly seeing people you know, and those you’ll soon get to know over your four years. 

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